A NEW cabinet housing a potentially lifesaving defibrillator will be unveiled at Locke Park tomorrow.
Runners have helped raise £2,000 to cover the cost of the cabinet - which was destroyed by yobs in April just a month after it had been installed.
The defibrillator itself was found dumped in some bushes, but is still in working order.
Alan Mills, founder of the Barnsley Park Run group, said: “Park Run is trying to get defibrillators in every park where there is a Park Run. There have been several incidents throughout the country where defibrillators have been used. There was an incident in Doncaster where a runner suffered a cardiac arrest and died. Within a fortnight, they had raised money and had got one.
“I think they are a great thing.
“The defibrillator is available for the whole community, not just to park runners. It can be used by people in the park, those using the bowling green or someone could just run in and get it if they need it. They would have to dial 999 to get the code to open the unit.
“There aren’t many defibrillators in Barnsley, and there should be more of them.”
Park Run member Claire Robinson started the fund-raising ball rolling with a raffle with prizes donated by local businesses and a Just Giving page was also set up. Alan said there were three large donations which helped them reach £2,000.
But he said the unit itself only cost £800 and it’s not yet been decided whether the remainder of the cash will be used to purchase a second defibrillator or to train people how to use it.
The new cabinet is in the same spot as before, but is a round one to try and prevent yobs climbing on the roof of the cafe and pulling off the slates.
Alan said the cafe had been vandalised, but the culprits had been caught on CCTV when they smashed the security cameras. The cameras have now been fixed.
